Beckham hopes to stand his ground on new turf

Monday 26 June 2006 20.23 EDT
First published on Monday 26 June 2006 20.23 EDT

England will face Portugal on a partially new pitch in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday after the groundsman at the Arena AufSchalke decided to re-turf the six-yard areas in the stadium, which features a retractable roof.

David Beckham will be relieved to hear that the rest of the penalty areas, and specifically the penalty spots, will not be changed. Beckham infamously missed a penalty in the Euro 2004 quarter-final shoot-out against Portugal when his standing foot slipped as he planted it on re-laid turf at Benfica's Estadio Da Luz.

The pitches have been a source of general complaint at the tournament, with Paul Robinson yesterday repeating calls for pre-match watering to assist England's passing game following England's 1-0 win over Ecuador.

Meanwhile the quarter-final clash will be a reminder, as if one were needed, of the Football Association's misguided attempt to appoint Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor before the World Cup. If Luiz Felipe Scolari had accepted the job he was offered, Saturday's match would have presented a monumental conflict of interest. Even as it stands the match could have ramifications for the start of Steve McClaren's reign. He has been the main influence in preparing the team. Win and it will be a big feather in his cap; lose and he could kick off under a tactical cloud.

Fan club strikes bad chord

Team England's image is not being enhanced by some of the antics of the players' entourage in Baden-Baden. The large Liverpudlian contingent, dubbed the House of Scouse by paparazzi, celebrated victory over Ecuador in riotous style on Sunday night singing football songs attacking Manchester United and Chelsea. More seriously - and possibly damaging to the England camp's reputation - they were heard singing choruses of the deeply offensive Ten German Bombers, a song supporters have been urged not to sing under threat of arrest.

Own-goal irks gamblers

Fifa's attitude to own-goals in the World Cup is causing consternation in the gambling industry. With huge amounts of cash staked on the leading goalscorer - £2m has been staked on Betfair alone - industry sources are fuming at the apparently arbitrary adjudication on own-goals. Hernán Crespo was awarded the first goal against Mexico despite most observers agreeing that Jared Borgetti got the final touch. Goals awarded to Spain's David Villa against Ukraine and Maxi Rodriguez's first in the 6-0 rout of Serbia & Montenegro are also contested by the industry, which believes Fifa is contradicting its pre-tournament directive on contested goals in favour of likely Golden Boot winners.

Van on the cheap

The sleepless nights caused by Ruud van Nistelrooy's World Cup nightmare may not be confined to the striker's house this week. Manchester United were hopeful that an influential tournament from the out-of-favour striker, pictured below, might boost his transfer value when they look to offload him in the summer but, with even the Holland coach Marco van Basten losing faith and dropping Van Nistelrooy, left, from the Dutch side, United are facing a considerable loss on the £19m they paid PSV Eindhoven for the striker in 2001.

Joker has last laugh

The 600-strong Brazilian press corps that follows the selecao around the world is mourning the loss of one of its number. Among the 150 staff deployed by the TV station Globo was the three-handed comedy troupe Casseta & Planetta, Brazil's answer to Little Britain. It spent the tournament mimicking Ronaldo, Ronaldhino and Co at training and in stadium mixed zones but the laughter stopped last week when one of its number suffered from a heart attack.